


Last1Standing

by Lt_Sarcasm



Category: Halo
Genre: Gen, Halo stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-23
Updated: 2011-06-23
Packaged: 2017-10-20 16:20:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/214658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lt_Sarcasm/pseuds/Lt_Sarcasm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A lone ghost trapped on a burning world, but through the ashes the planet's secrets are uncovered, and for spartan Dom-107, he would rather of wished them to remain buried. It would of saved alot of ammo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Last1Standing

Spartans, we cannot let this outpost fall to the covenant! Defend it at all costs.

Those were the orders Omega-team received the day that the Covenant came to Reach. To defend the outpost they were stationed at, a research facility clinging to the outskirts of the city. Those were the orders, and no spartan on that team would dare question them. Their outpost would not fall. Not if they could help it.

At least, that was what Dominic-107 first thought. But now, as he stood on the wall, looking on as the city burned underneath the Covenant cruisers, he was beginning to have his doubts. Reach was falling, and there was nothing he could do about it.

His arm burned as plasma fire ripped through his shields, startling him from his thoughts. They were back. They always came back. Without hesitation he lifted his pistol. A pull of the trigger, and the jackal that dared to fire at him fell to the ground, a gaping hole in its head. This served the spartan little satisfaction, for as quickly at the covie fell, three more came charging to avenge their fallen brethren.

Bip. Bop. Bam. Three more corpses to the pile. Three more to take their places. Elites, followed closely by grunts, surged up the walkway, roaring their challenges. Dom switched to his DMR and methodically unloaded into the surging wave of covenant, ducking behind cover as a plasma grenade arced overhead.

His arm still burned, like fiery needles poking into his nerves. Not a good sign. He cursed himself for losing his focus. For letting the enemy sneak up on him like that. The next slip in concentration could get him an energy sword through the chest.

"Not your fault, Dom. " Immediately the pain receded. The spartan turned to see the team sniper, Fey, attending to his arm. " We've been at this for days. Mistakes are bound to happen." She said calmly before picking up her rifle again. That sniper always seemed to know what everyone was thinking, at least, that's what it seemed like to Dom. He gave her a thankful nod and turned back to his bloody work.

" You picked a good day to die, bloody covies!" A few feet away from him a tall, heavily armored spartan had grabbed a turret and started to spray the horde of enemies with insults, along with a few bullets. Skarr, as everyone called him. Anything big and deadly was his specialty.

"Oi, we need to clear some space!" He was yelling. "Where's the grenade launcher?"

" Lej. " Fey said a-matter-of-factly, right before sniping an elite who tried to run up the stairs towards them.

"LEJ!" Skarr roared into the comm, sending a smaller spartan, his armor still carrying that shiny newness, scurrying out of cover, grenade launcher in hand.

"What?" He asked innocently.

" Get in there!" He answered irritably, shoving Lej towards the approaching Covenant, then walking off to find some more ammo.

As soon as Lej reached him, Dom grabbed him and pulled him down, plasma firing shooting past. As soon as there was a break in fire he stood up and fired the grenade launcher into the swarm. Explosions ripped through the air. What Covenant that were left still alive quickly retreated or were picked off by Fey and her sniping skills.

"Knocked 'em right on their dead arses!" Skarr was laughing.

"They will be back." Fey sighed, standing up, 'They always come back."

The coast clear, the four spartans found reprieve. Dom allowed himself to relax against a concrete barrier, taking notice of how tired his muscles felt. Fey and Lej found their places beside him, taking off their helmets to breath in the ash filled air.

"Smells...like death." Lej murmured, staring off into the distant. Embers from the burning city filled the sky, turning the sunset a blood red color.

"Bastards..." was all Skarr could say, his dark face etched with hardly contained fury.

" This isn't good." Fey was saying what they were all thinking. " I heard this is happening all across the planet." She ran a hand through her short red hair, " so many people getting killed. Civies. Marines. Spartans..." her voice faded away as it sank in. " I hate to say this, but it looks like we're...losing."

Silence. Fey stared off into the sky while Lej's young face filled with grief. Skarr gripped his gun so hard it looked on the verge of breaking. Dominic didn't know what to think, besides feeling like they failed. He numbly traced the blue markings on his armor. This couldn't be happening.

"So..."Lej finally broke the silence, "how long do we keep this up?"

"As long as boss man wants us to, I suppose." The female spartan shrugged. "Speaking of which. Anyone know where O'Neil ran off too?"

" He wasn't fighting with us. Damn coward, probably couldn't take the heat and ran away."Skarr hissed, his eyes fiery.

Sensing that the other spartan was on the edge, Fey slowly stood up. "Easy, Skarr. Take your anger out on the covies, not on your comrades. We all know Reach is falling, but that doesn't give you any right to-"

"Quit your chattering. Just noise on the ears. " Skarr got closer to her, body tense, the scars on his face highlighted in the setting sun. "You talk to much, you know that?"

Before the two spartans could get any closer, Dom quickly got to his feet and placed a warning hand on Skarr's shoulder, his other hand fingering his pistol.

" We're spartans. We're not supposed to act like this...' Lej piped in nervously. Tension ripped through the air as the four stood off against each other, waiting for one to make a move.

"You want to try me, Dom?" Skarr hissed, getting in his face. 'Come on, Im right here."

Dominic looked into his bloodshot eyes, and held his ground. Skarr was about to say something when suddenly.

'Stand down, spartans!" And O'Neil, their leader, walked out from a doorway, his commanding voice filled with anger. All tension vanished and they immediately snapped to attention.

"What the hell is going on here, Ledger?" O'Neil barked, his battle worn face seething. The young spartan gave a hasty salute.

"Skarr was showing signs of direct insubordination, sir!"

"I just though-" Skarr began, but his commanding officer would have none of it.

" Can it, spartan. If you can't control yourself, then you're a danger to this team, and I can't let that happen! Understand?" He said dangerously.

"Yes sir." Skarr muttered, backing down.

The problem put to rest for the moment, the anger left O'Neil. His eyes went back to their calm, serious gray as he looked over his team.

"Status report?" He looked at Fey.

"Killed thirty to forty covies in the last wave, by what I counted," Fey began, "Only one minor injury to Dom's arm, but other than that we are still ready and able, sir."

"Good to know. Sorry I couldn't join in the fun, but I got orders from Command. Pack up and move out, they're calling evac to all outposts."

"Evac?" Skarr exclaims, "you're not saying-"

"We're closing up shop. What you heard is true. We're losing." He held up a data pad that was in his hand. "Our orders are to meet up with a group of marines and a few civies at this rendevous point here, then escort them to an UNSC frigate docked here. Its our only ticket out of here, or get glassed like the rest of the planet."

"About time we got out of here. I will gather all our ammo." Fey nodded and set off while Skarr grumbled underneath his breath. Dom and Lej stared at the rendevous point on the map. There sure was a lot of ground to cover, and no doubt every inch of it was covered with the Covenant.

" Sir," Lej spoke up, "how are we going to get from here, all the way to there?"" I've already mapped the route. We take a shortcut through the city. It's a quiet neighborhood on the edge of it, fewer hostiles, more chance for us.""Think we'll make it, sir?" He asked as the rest of the team gathered around him. O'Neil watched their faces, tired and battleworn, but loyal all the same. Well, most of them. Their lives were in his hands. His decision could either save them, or doom them. Hell, he was getting too old for this." Listen up. We're getting out of here. Dead or alive, I'm not leaving you to burn on this planet."

Six hours later...

The dying city was full of the sound of falling debris and far off explosions. Night had fallen, and the light drizzle did nothing to vanquish the flames. Down, in the abandoned streets, Omega-team was on the run.

"One eye on your radar, check your weapons. Lej, keep up. " O'Neil's voice, worn and gritty, sounded on Dom's comm as they moved through the shadows. He drummed an impatient tune on his assault rifle. The quiet was getting to him. Halfway through the city and not one covie. It had been hours since he last fired his weapon. After days of fighting, that seemed almost...wrong.Behind him Skarr made a noise and spun around, shotgun raised. Dom paused and looked where he was aiming, but saw nothing.

 

"Don't give me that look." Skarr tapped Dom's visor. "Picked up something on my radar." He looked around. "Odd. Its gone now."

" Most likely you're just itching for a fight." Fey said curtly."

"Cut the chatter." O'Neil Interuptted before the two could start another fight. " We're almost there."Another hour passed slipping through back alleys and shadows. No signs of anything living yet. Dom figured that he would be relieved to not find any covies, but still, something was setting him on edge.His radar flickered. Three red dots, heading straight towards him, he spun around and raised his gun."Heads up." O'Neil said, his team getting into battle position. They waited. Nothing happened. The radar was empty.

"You all saw that, right? Im not a bloody loon?" Skarr insisted.  
" Well, I wouldn't say that..." Fey chuckled.  
"They're gone, sir.." Lej sounded more confused than he usually did. Their Commander was silent through the chatter, weapon still raised, staring off into the night.

"Can it." He spoke, and they too fell silent. After a while he finally lowered his gun. "Odd. Covies probably have radar shielding or they moved back out of range. Stay alert and move out, hopefully we won't encounter them anytime soon."

That was when the first elite slammed into Skarr. The spartan hit the ground while numerous other elites uncloaked and joined the fight.  
'Open fire!" O'Neil yelled, shooting the Elite that was trying to run it's energy sword through Skarr.Flashes of gunfire filled the night. Omega-team had walked right into an ambush. Dominic was back to back with Fey, covering her while she reloaded. He could hear Skarr cursing happily as he bashed an elite's head in over his comm, but he had no clue where he was. Raising his assualt rifle, he fired at an Elite, who rolled behind cover. Taking a grenade from him belt, he lobbed it behind the cement barrier. One explosion later and there was one less enemy to worry about.

"Too many of them! Get to cover!" Fey was yelling, pistol in hand. The noise must of attracted the rest of the covenant in the area. Grunts swarmed down the streets while Jackels found sniping places on the roof tops.The two spartans turned and sprinted towards an opening in an abandoned building, plasma fire coming from all around them. He could see the rest of the team waiting inside, trying to give them cover fire as they ran.Something purplish pink came whistling by him, and Fey was down, her shields sparking. Dominic quickly spun around, riddling the jackal with holes. He quickly knelt down by her and tried to help her up, using himself as a shield, plasma fire threatening to rip through his own shields any minute.

"I owe you one." She sounded pained. They needed to get to cover, and quick. So focused was he on helping his comrade that he didn't realized the rest of his team frantically yelling at him till it was too late."-six o'clock!" Was all he heard from O'Neil before he spun around and caught sight of the golden elite marching confidently through the fray, fuel rod cannon in hand.

"Damn it, take him down!" Skarr was yelling, but to Dominic is sounded like a whisper. Time seemed to slow down as his soldier's mind calculated his options. He saw the elite pull the trigger, sending glowing green death flying his way. It only took a split second to weigh the options, and by then the spartan had made up his mind.

"Move!" he yelled, half pushing, half flinging Fey out of the way. The second before he could initiate armor lock he was hit. His shields fizzled, then died. Sharp pain filled his back, his vision cut out as he was sent flying. He hit something hard. Something else cracked, then he was on the ground. He couldn't move. Pain was the only thing he could feel. So much pain. Faintly, just faintly, he could hear the Commander yelling his name over the gunfire. But that too faded into silence as the void claimed him.


End file.
